


Snow White, Indeed

by Repeatinglitanies



Series: Fairy Tales Told at the End of the World [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Don’t copy to another site, Erotic Dreams, F/M, Incest, Masturbation, Non-Graphic Sex, pseudoincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 00:35:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18487660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: Five thought there was nothing else left alive in this barren world. Until he found a stranger sleeping in a field of green. Nothing seems to wake her up. And with her dark hair and fair skin, it seemed apt to call her Snow White





	Snow White, Indeed

Though Five would only later (much later) admit it to himself, the old man was right. Time travel was unpredictable. And he shouldn’t have done it.

If he ever got a chance to go back in time, he would be sorely tempted to hit himself repeatedly for being such an insufferable little shit. But he’d better table that for a later time. After he gets back at least a few days before the apocalypse. After he’d saved the world. And after he went back home to his own time where Vanya would probably be worried sick about him

He hoped that Ben would have the time to check up on her. But he doubted it. The old man punished the group for the failures of one individual. An affront to the Geneva Conventions. Then again, Reginald Hargreeves listened to no one’s counsel but his own.

Which is how he ended up here in the first place. He just wanted to be proven right (and dad proven wrong). Funny how that had been his goal for as long as he can remember. But now, all he wanted was to go back. Wish that this was all an elaborate nightmare and that he’d wake up soon.

At some point in the middle of burying his siblings’ bodies (he only found 4 of them and a part of him didn’t want to know what happened to Ben and Vanya), he caved and prayed to a god (any god, actually) he didn’t even believe in.

Nothing happened. And his momentary fit of madness shattered. What was he doing? There was never a god. At least, not a benevolent one who actually cared.

The apocalypse is proof of that. 

So he continued to make graves for Luther, Allison, Diego and Klaus. The eye in his pocket seeming to burn a hole through his skin. He vowed he’d find the owner and stop whoever it was. There can be no doubt the owner of the prosthetic eye had something to do with the end of the world. Or the end of his world, at least.

Afterwards, he allowed himself to break down and cry. If there’s anything good about the end of the world, it’s that there’s no one around to see how weak you truly are.

Five didn’t know how much time had passed. And come to think of it, that was funny in itself. He used to obsess over the concept of time. And now, time meant nothing to him.

Almost.

He had to remember. He had to keep going. Ben and Vanya might still be out there somewhere. And if they were still alive, he knew they’d surely come back to the academy.

So he decided to wait for them. And in the mean time, he worked on his calculations to find a way to get back. Because he refused to let this truly be the end. Despite everything, he had to believe he could fix this. To think otherwise would truly be the end of him.

So he got up and started looking for food.

The stores he got from the nearby grocery lasted him several weeks. But he knew he had to find more food sources.

And it was in one such foray that he found her.

The only source of color and life in a barren world of ash.

He called her Snow White for lack of a better name to call her. There was a fairy tale quality to her with her dark hair, pale skin and the pristine white suit she wore.

All she needed was a glass coffin to complete the picture. Instead, she was lying in a field of green. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal had the greenery not been surrounding her and had it not been found everywhere it could grow in the middle of the city.

Snow White was about as tall as he was. She had a pulse and was still breathing. But no matter what he did or how much he tried, there was no waking her.

Snow White, indeed.

He briefly considered kissing her but shot down the idea as quickly as it came.

There was no question he was taking her with him. She was the only other living person he’d encountered in this dead world. So he wasn’t going to let her die.

The first few weeks with Snow White (as he waited for Vanya and Ben) were a nightmare. They camped at the ruins of the academy. And he salvaged all the useful things he could but there was no way to feed her from the mouth. And his raid of clinics, hospitals and pharmacies were equally fruitles in his search for anything to help feed her

He prepared himself to watch her waste away. Even considered euthanizing her but changed his mind. Instead, he talked to her.

He knew better than to expect Snow White to answer back. But he still continued to talk to her. Telling her about his life, his childhood, his brothers and sisters.

When he ran out of stories to tell, he began to tell her about his plan. He will go to a library that’s still standing. Gather all the information he can. Redo his calculations. Go back in time and stop the apocalypse.

When Snow White showed no sign of deteriorating health and in fact seemed to have slowly but surely caused the growth of plants and nearby trees, Five knew she was like him. One of the kids born around the world to women that weren’t even pregnant at the start of the day.

For one wild moment, he hoped Snow White was Vanya. But he knew that’s impossible. Vanya was born ordinary. Reginald wouldn’t have treated her like a nobody otherwise.

And this is how he survived so long in the apocalypse. Snow White’s powers. He didn’t know if she could hear him or if she even consciously knew what she was doing. But whenever he couldn’t find a supply for water, it would rain. 

When even the cockroaches grew scarce, something edible would eventually grow from the grounds they were camping on.

For his part, Five would make sure she was wrapped up warmly during the winter. And dressed more coolly for the heat-ridden summer months. He’d make sure her limbs and body were exercised enough to prevent bed sores (actual bed, nonexistent). 

At first, he felt shame having to undress and redress her. Just as much as having to bathe her whenever there was enough water for a bath.

But sentiment soon gave way to practicality. And he forced himself to look at her in order to finish the task even while knowing he’d be reliving this memory late that night while lying beside her for warmth.

Eight years came and went but Ben and Vanya never did. And Five resigned himself to the possibility they didn’t survive. Either they were one of the charred corpses beyond recognition or they never even lived long enough to see how the world ends.

On the night of that realization, he curled himself around Snow White. It was more for comfort this time. He knew there was little chance she’d finally wake up. But that didn’t stop him from hoping.

He may have cried himself to sleep. Not that it mattered. No one except maybe Snow White would know. And he would never tell another soul even if he could.

He knew he was dreaming when he felt someone tugging at him. And he opened his eyes to find Snow White on top of him, her eyes a luminescent white.

Five would have been more alarmed under any other circumstances. But fuck it, he was in a dream and at one of the lowest points in his life. Beggars can it be choosers and he’s long past being proud. He’d take whatever comfort he could get.

And for a short while, when she took him inside her, he forgot all the sorrows, all the horrors and the pervading despair that dogged him since he found himself in a dead world.

He was fully clothed though a mess when he woke up. Five checked on Snow White and she was as he last saw her before he fell asleep.

Five groaned. He thought getting past puberty would put this nonsense to rest. Apparently not.

More years pass by. He never stopped talking to her or dreaming of her in THAT way. Some nights, he was tempted to throw away every decent thing he had still left in him and make those dreams a reality.

But he never did. 

Instead he’d find a place to hide to relieve that particular itch. 

Sometimes, when he asked her a question, he could hear her answer back. In his head, Five knew he was just imagining her replies. But he’d stopped caring long ago.

He thinks that he may have fallen in love with her. But what are the chances of anything happening when the object of your affections is out of your reach in every sense except the physical?

He’s been growing older while she hasn’t aged a day. He’s nearing his forties now and worries about leaving her alone. Not that he would seriously consider dying in this hellhole (though there were moments he came close to it). However, Five knows he needs to go back and stop the end of the world. That is the only way either of them would have a future. 

And he won’t be able to take her with him. Solo travel was already a difficulty. To bring her would add complications that at worst would prove fatal to both of them.

He swore to himself he’d find her when he jumped to the past. And make sure he altered her fate. Because surely no one would want to be in eternal slumber, a prisoner in one’s own body.

He just needs to figure out this equation. To his irritation, he’s been stumped for weeks.

_Why don’t you finally try something else first? I’ve been telling you before. Play squash or music? How about the violin? You’re stuck now. But maybe you’ll find the answer while learning something new?_

Snow White was starting to sound like Vanya. And after throwing a perfectly good bottle of wine, he had to concede. 

The next time he went to the only library left standing, he looked at the non-maths/non-physics sections. But in secret away from Snow White’s range of vision (if she ever decides to wake up) because Snow can be insufferable when she gets her way.

And that’s where he finds Vanya’s book. The front cover showed Vanya as he last saw her. It suddenly made him feel homesick.

Without preamble, he opened the book and found out what happened to his family.

Suffice it to say. His family was a mess the whole time he’d been gone. Not that it was ever really functional to begin with.

Ben had died before the apocalypse ever happened. But Vanya was alive. At least, she was alive 5 years before the end to write her book. She moved out soon after Ben died. But it didn’t look like her deepest hopes and dreams ever came to fruition.

None of his siblings got what they wanted either, except for Allison. Though he suspected Allison regretted it deeply.

It didn’t take him long to finish Vanya’s work. And it left him both drained and determined. He took no joy in the knowledge that he wasn’t the sole messed up Hargreeves. All he could do was carry on and finish his calculations.

Save his family. Save Snow. Save the world.

He was about to put the book in his pack when the back cover stopped him cold.

The picture showed Snow White. 

He took a few more seconds to stare at it in hopes that the picture would morph into a different feature.

But there was no mistaking it.

Snow White is Vanya.

His sister, Vanya.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Number Five.”

He thought he was hearing things again. But just to be sure, he fixed his gaze at the source of the voice. And found a white-haired woman in black.

“Who the hell are you?”

“You can call me The Handler. And it looks like I’ve come at a bad time. But we have no choice but play the cards we’re dealt.”

“Get the fuck out of here.”

Years with Snow White made him unaccustomed to issuing threats. But he was proud of how his tone came out.

But The Handler was nonplussed 

“Is that any way to greet someone offering you a solution to your current predicament? Well, who would have thought the beautiful sleeping stranger you wanted to make love to would turn out to be your sister? Oh, I know you’re not blood-related. But I’ve been told it’s still disconcerting. So now, you want time away to process that revelation. But you don’t want to leave her alone here at the end of the world. Why else did it take you so long to find her book?”

If Five wasn’t angry before, he was boiling with rage now. For this woman to even imply he wasn’t doing everything he could to get back to his family was just the topping to a shitfuck of a day.

“Really, Number Five. No need to waste your energy on anger. I’m not here to judge. Only to offer you a job. I promise you that you’ll regret it if you don’t hear me out.”

He indicated for her to go on. And long story short, she worked for an organization called The Commission. It’s whole reason for being is to ensure the correct timeline happened. Correct to who, he didn’t bother to ask or care. The only thing it had to offer is that it can send him anywhere in time. Back to the past or back here with Vanya.

He can spend years on assignment but be able to come back mere seconds after he leaves. Or he can use this agency to send him back in time to stop the apocalypse.

Five knew they won’t be willing. But he could find a way around it.

The only question is: will he want to save the world enough to leave Sno- Vanya?

The Handler gave him a day to get back to her.

But even with 12 hours gone, he still hasn’t decided.

“If you have something to say, now is the time, Vanya.”

No reply. 

He tucked her in before lying down beside her. Five was about to succumb to sleep when he was suddenly struck by a crazy idea.

And before he could talk himself out of it, he kissed her. Full on the mouth.

It didn’t wake her up.

But Five did hear the strings of the violin as he found himself in an apartment. He looked around and saw Vanya. 

She was looking at him with sad eyes and a gentle smile. 

“Hi, Five”

He must be seeing things.

“This is the only time I can really talk to you. We don’t have much time. And there’s so many things you need to know...But I think you figured out most of it.”

He nodded

“You caused the apocalypse. The old man didn’t know how to control your powers so he kept you on meds to repress them. And it worked until the day you stopped taking them.”

Vanya’s eyes got even sadder.

“There was a man. He called himself Leonard Peabody. Yes, he owned the prosthetic eye you always carry with you. I thought I was in love with him and that he actually saw me. But he just got Dad’s notes for some reason. He found out about my powers. And used me to destroy the Academy. When I came to, everyone was dead. I didn’t want to live with myself then. But I couldn’t let myself die without fixing things. I couldn’t control my powers while I was awake, so I went so deep inside myself that I didn’t know how to wake up anymore.”

And Five somehow knew the rest of the story. That was when he found her. And they spent decades together and yet still apart. 

Under ordinary circumstances, he would have vented. Been angry. Asked her why she could only talk to him now. Why didn’t she try to communicate years ago? But he knew she was telling the truth. They didn’t have much time. He needed to listen or he would not get another chance.

“You can’t stay at the end of the world, Five. You have to go back and save it. Save our family.”

“What about you?”

“I spent decades trying to atone for what I’ve done. This world is living again. But I know that would never make up for what I’ve done. Five, I want you to stay. I really do. I’ve loved you for years. And I’ve never stopped. But that’s the same reason why I want you to go. You shouldn’t be stuck here with me.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Five had a feeling he didn’t want to know.

“I’m dying, Five. I’ve held on as long as I could because I didn’t want you to be all alone. But I can’t hold off death forever.”

Five wanted to deny this revelation. He was already thinking of how he could use the Commission to save Vanya’s life. 

“I don’t want whatever the Commission can offer. All I want is for you to have a chance. All my life, I just wanted someone to care about me. And I’ve had that for thirty years. It’s time for you to get a second chance.”

Five approached her and held her close. He could not for the life of him recall holding onto someone so tightly.

“I don’t want to leave you.”

Vanya places a warm hand on his cheek and smiled

“You’ll see me again. And I promise you that you will always have a home with me.”

There were no more words left to say after that

The next day, he made sure that Vanya had shelter and that she was comfortable. Five prepared to leave, bringing only her book with him.

He knew The Handler will make an appearance any minute now. So he took the chance to give Vanya a final goodbye.

“You are my home Vanya. No matter if you’re a baby in diapers or a decrepit old woman. And I promise you. One way or another, I will come home.”

And with that, he took a lock of her hair, placed it between the pages of her book and didn’t look back


End file.
